This is the Spicebush Swallowtail Butterfly is one of the most majestic butterflies in the Eastern United States. This is their complete life cycle. Spicebush Swallowtails Papilio Troilus has a lot of tricks up it's sleeve though! The caterpillars look like snakes or treefrogs in order to confuse and deter predators. These butterfly caterpillars spend most of their life eating leaves of spicebush and sassafrass in order to prepare for metamorphosis into an adult butterfly. If their disguise doesn't work, they have another trick. They quickly stick out two tentacles known as their osmoeterium and it looks JUST LIKE a snakes toungue, only yellow or orange. The butterfly is often mistaken for the famous Black Swallowtail Butterflies, but they look different if you know what to look for.
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